Chasing Lincoln’s Killer assignment number 1 by: Natalie Lail The night that changed our country, otherwise known as the night of President Lincoln's assassination and death. This whole tragedy was planned and committed by John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor. Booth committed this horrible crime because he didn’t like the fact that the war was over and the North had won. He was also upset that President Lincoln got rid of slavery. Booth wasn’t the only one who knew that Lincoln’s death was near. He told his companion David Herold, the plan as well. Booth told Herold his horrific plan on the night of Lincoln’s last speech, on April 11, 1865. Booth got his hands on a letter that said President Lincoln would be …show more content…
Booth thought to himself, in just eight hours Lincoln would be here and this plan would be fulfilled. He also knew the play that was being performed that night entitled “Our American Cousin.” Booth knew every line by heart and knew the perfect moment to act on his horrible plan. Next Booth visited a boarding house that was only a few blocks away from the theatre. There was a woman that worked there named Mary Surratt, she was forty-two years old, had a son named John Harrison Surratt, and was a friend of Booth. Mary was also a Confederate secret agent. When Booth got to the boarding house, he gave Mary a package that he just so happened to be carrying with him at the time. He told her that he would be back that night, on his way out of Washington, to collect his package along with his guns, ammunition, with other supplies that her son had hidden there for Booth. Booth decided to use a .44 caliber, single shot, muzzle-loading pistol as his weapon of choice along with a knife that he kept in his pocket. Before Booth left for the theater he wrote a letter to whoever may find it saying that he had killed Lincoln, along with all of the people’s name who was helping him with his side
Furthermore, Booth then immediately take derringer out for the single shot to the president’s left ear. President Lincoln slowly collapsed on his chair and his wife Mary started to scream. Henry Rathbone, heard the the gunshot in the President 's Box, and started run out from his seat and see Booth running. Rathbone prevented Booth from escaping. However, Booth stabbed Rathbone (leg) and went immediately down to the stage.
The book Chasing Lincoln’s Killer tells a mysterious story about John Wilkes Booth’s expedition as he tries to escape the soldiers trying to find him. James L. Swanson tell an informational adventure story about how Booth attempted to escape his search. The whole book talked about Booth’s escape journey including his capture. On the night before Lincoln’s assassination Booth could not sleep knowing what he was about to try to accomplish. The final hours that he spent not being the most wanted man in America was at a bar.
Although Mary did not know about the plan to murder lincoln she was still an associate. Mary also visited the theater many times the night of the murder. This could have possibly been that she was looking for a good place for it to take place. Secondly, Mary lied to the police.
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever Chapter by Chapter Summaries: Chapter 1: General Grant has General Lee trapped in Petersburg trying to force his surrender but he is able to escape by the skin of his teeth. He tries to go to North Carolina to get reinforcements because that is his last option at this point in the war. Meanwhile, President Lincoln is having severe nightmares about the war. Chapter 2 :
Killing Lincoln, written by Bill O’Reilly uncovers the mystery behind the killing of one of our most famous Presidents. As the Civil War begins to come to its final resolution, General Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant have one last showdown. As the Union begins to converge on the southern forces, not only are is Lee severally outgunned and out manned, but he is outwitted and out lasted. President Lincoln takes refuge on a boat during his “working vacation”, and diligently keeps track of his army via telegram. The president has come so far in his efforts to put down this secession, he has informed Grant to give a lenient surrender to the south.
Most people know the story of how President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater. He was shot in the head by the now infamous, John Wilkes Booth, who then fled the theater, riding a horse south into the former confederate states. He was eventually found and shot, ending a long search. Most people, however, don’t realize how badly he wanted to commit the act. The most important theme in James Swanson’s Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, is that by having extremely strong feelings or very fond beliefs towards a cause, you may end up doing something risky or even insane just to support that cause; which he proves to have been relevant even in the mid-1800’s.
Mary Surratts Plot Mary Surratt might have helped John Wilkes Booth but she did not deserve death. Mary Surratts death sentence was not reliable. Mary Surratt did not kill anyone she only helped John Wilkes Booth with a place to stay and eat. Mary Surratt did not even kiddnap anyone she only helped.
No matter how many news reports and newspapers people scour through, there is always a better chance than not that key information is missed because of a biased article writer. Through reading the book, Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, no side is left out, and while Swanson is a writer from the North, he manages to cover the entire story of Booth’s manhunt, including the many hidden facts as well as the motive behind Booth’s attack. Through primary sources and other documents, the text is quite informative, and therefore is a must read for anyone and everyone. It does matter if people read this book, because it reveals so much more than what most people know, about this horrific incident. Every day, manhunts and assassinations take place around the
Booths main goal is to bring the Confederacy (CSA) back. To do so, he and his mates have to do a series of assassinations. Booth had to assassinate Lincoln, which he did but not quite. Lincoln got shot in the head but still lives on a while longer. Lewis Powell had been assigned to kill Secretary of State William Seward, which he fails to do so
Mudd repaired Booth’s leg. Booth then rode to Surratt’s tavern and returned the “shooting irons”. He then hid in a barn and had a standoff with the military who was tracked him down. He wouldn’t come out and give himself up, so they shot him in the neck” (“Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination”). Booth died and they looked for others who were involved including Mary Surratt.
The video "Conspiracy Theories ; The Lincoln Assassination" discussed the three theories that John Wilkes Booth either worked with the President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis to kill Lincoln, the leader of the Confederate Secret Service in Montreal, or the Confederate Government. Based on Booth’s motives, diary entries, and plans, he most likely worked by himself to create the elaborate plot to foil the new victory of the Union. In all three theories, Booth was told to kill the president, which would go against his unhealthy form of southern patriotism. In Booth’s last journey entry before he died, he thought he had done nothing wrong and brought justice to the South by saying, “God cannot pardon me if I have done wrong; yet I cannot see any wrong, except in serving a degenerate people. The little, the very little, I left behind to clear my name, the Government will not allow to be printed.
Booth himself wrote about Lincoln in a negative manner. “Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment” (Booth, April 13-14, 1865). This quote proves that Booth saw the assassination of Lincoln as both patriotic and
In hindsight, this seems the only way America’s worst moment could end. After some 600,000 American men had died of wounds, or grossly unsanitary medical practice, Lincoln gave his second inaugural address, the famous “charity for all” speech, on March 4, 1865, one month before his death. There is a photograph of him giving this speech, which also shows John Wilkes Booth standing above and behind him, on a balcony. Lincoln ended his speech with these words: “With malice toward none; with charity for all;…let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.”
James L. Swanson Chasing Lincoln’s Killer 2009 Chasing Lincoln’s Killer is a book about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a past United States of America president. The introduction of the book is how John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s killer, and his accomplices, made a plan to kidnap the American president, but their plan failed. So, John Wilkes Booth and his little gang decide to kill the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of State in one night. John Wilkes Booth would kill the president at Ford’s theater, His accomplice George Atzerodt would kill the Vice President at the Vice President’s hotel room. Lewis Powell and David Herold would kill the Secretary of State.
As stated here, "But he also wanted to initiate the uneasy task of bringing the all but defeated South back into the new, more improved Union" ("Abraham Lincoln Biography"). The South hardly had any stamina left. They were hanging on, but barely. Nothing was going to help them. Booth shooting Lincoln didn't help, because even though the South hadn't admitted defeat, they had done everything but.